Benito Mussolini
Socialism is a fraud, a comedy, a phantom, a blackmail. '- Mussolini showing a hatred for Socialism' Who was Benito Mussolini? Benito Mussolini was the leader of the Italian Fascist Party, a elementary school teacher, a writer for a Socialist newspaper and more. Mussolini was famous (for a bad reason) of being a good friend of the Fascist Germany and Mussolini was killed by Italian rebels. Childhood of Benito Mussolini. Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in Predappio, Italy and was born by a blacksmith and his family was very poor. He went to school and was disobedient and aggressive. He was a bully at school and rude at home. Because the teachers at the village school could not control him, he was sent to board with the strict Salesian order at Faenza, where he was even more troublesome than ever, stabbing a fellow pupil with a penknife and attacking one of the Salesians who had attempted to beat him. He was expelled and sent to the Giosuè Carducci School at Forlimpopoli, from which he was also expelled after assaulting yet another pupil with his penknife. He was also very smart, and he passed his final examinations without difficulty. He obtained a teaching diploma and for a time worked as a elementary school teacher but soon realized that he wanted to be more. At the age of 19, he left Italy for Switzerland to avoid military service. For the next few months he was jumping from job to job. Early Adulthood Currently in Switzerland, he was finding out information about political theorists, such as Karl Marx and got big into Socialism. He later would marry Rachele Guidi and he would write his own Socialist newspaper called The Class Struggle. Other parties saw him as a vital member for Socialist parties, and joined one and became the leader. Fascism Mussolini didn't want war in Europe, and his Socialist party agreed with him, but Mussolini realized that if there was war, the Socialist revolution could spread everywhere, he was now Pro-War. His party saw him as a traitor and kicked him out of the party, Mussolini realized he needed something new, not Socialism, but Fascism. Meaning of Fascism Fascism is a type of government that is a one-party dictatorship. Fascists are against democracy and Fascism puts nation and often race above the individual (the holocaust is an example of this.) It stands for a centralized government headed by a dictator. Making his own party. Since Mussolini knew what he wanted to do, he made his owned party called the National Fascist Party and got a lot of support for it and gained a lot of followers. Italy was in a bad time, and many people moved to Mussolini's side due to the fact he said he could fix everything, and support came to him. Prime Minister Mussolini knew how popular he was a attempt to make a coup against the government and with his supporters he went to the king and said to the king to make him Prime Minister. The King gave in due to the fact Mussolini's supporters might have killed him over a riot and he was threated by their power. Becoming a dictator Since Mussolini was so popular, many wanted him to become a dictator and the king, under threat, held an election for the power, and Mussolini won and made himself a dictator and now he was a dictator of Italy. Africa Italy wanted some more power for themselves, so Italy looked at Ethiopia, a independant African state. He invaded Ethiopia and the League of Nations wanted to put sanctions over Italy. If the League had imposed oil sanctions, Mussolini would stop the invasion. But the League of Nations didn't put any sanctions, and on the night of May 9, 1936, he announced to an big crowd of about 400,000 people around Piazza Venezia in Rome that “in the 14th year of the Fascist era” a great event had been accomplished: Italy had a empire. This moment probably marked the peak of public support for the regime. Allies with the Axis Mussolini saw that there was another Fascist nation, Germany and he and Germany started to be allies, but after every Germany victory he saw that they were powerful, and this was the alovely he needed. Mussolini wanted to be allies with Germany, and Germany accepted, together they fought multiple invasions together, such as France, Greece, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and many, many others. Mussolini became very arrogant and saw himself as a very powerful man. He also was an ally with Japan, but unlike Germany, they didn't fund each other much due to their distance. Defeat of the Axis Mussolini was now at war with the USA due to the fact Japan had surprised attacked the USA on Pearl Harbour, and the USA with allied support drove the Axis out of Northern Africa and was looking at Southern Italy, the allies took it and now Mussolini, due to his pride said Italy would fight to the last minute. However, many Italians had relatives in America and now, Italians weren't wanting war, and Italy was no longer Fascist and now, Mussolini was being hunted down. Death of Mussolini Mussolini was being tracked down by some Italian communists and he and his family tried to escape, but he had to leave his children behind. He tried to cross the frontier disguised as a German soldier in a group of trucks retreating toward Innsbruck, in Austria. But he was found and, together with his mistress, Claretta Petacci. He was shot and killed on April 28, 1945. Their bodies were hung, head downward, in the Piazza Loreto in Milan. Huge jubilant crowds celebrated the fall of the dictator and the end of the war. Category:Characters Category:Axis Category:WW2 Category:People